COLUMN: Life goes on

On Wednesday morning, I had the opportunity to participate in a forum down in Bloomington alongside my fellow editors with the Hoosier Times newspaper group. They included editors with the Times-Mail in Bedford, the Herald-Times in Bloomington, and ever-dapper editor from the Paoli News-Republican and Springs Valley Herald, Miles Flynn.

The event started at 8:30 a.m., and as my wife can attest, I don’t do mornings. She — and now my two daughters — learned long ago that I need a minimum of 30 minutes in the morning before conversation of any kind is directed my way.

With a 1-month-old in the house, new routines are now in place, and as part of that routine, I try to take the baby for three or four hours during the “night shift,” so my wife can get some decent rest in an otherwise sleep-deprived chapter of life.

Tuesday night, I gave it my usual go, but by 10 p.m., he awoke with a jolt from a deep slumber, acting as though someone was poking his gut with a hot iron. He screamed and wailed at the top of his lungs, and nothing I did would console him. His screams ultimately awoke my wife from her all-too-brief siesta, so she plodded down to the basement — where I watch TV and occasionally doze off during my shift with “little man” on my chest — and took him into her arms.

He stayed angry for awhile, but she ultimately got his cries down to normal decibel levels through a combination of a mother’s presence and the oversized exercise ball we learned to use going back to our first daughter, who came out of the womb angry at the world — and stayed angry for the months that followed.

Knowing I had a speaking engagement of sorts the following morning, my wife graciously offered to keep him the rest of the night. With a mixture of reluctance and relief, I agreed and went to bed.

By the next morning and with a belly full of caffeine, I made the early trip down south, where we had an hour of roundtable discussion on all things newspaper work in the 21st century. I went in with some trepidation, unsure of what exactly was going to unfold, but the event turned out to be not only well attended but insightful for us editors and those in attendance.

We tackled a wide range of topics, from the role of technology in news production to the ever-evolving business model of newspapers to the role we see ourselves playing in our respective communities. There were questions of the recent ownership changes, and the associated uncertainties.

Despite my best efforts, I can’t help but do some hindsight analysis on many of experiences and interactions I have on a daily basis, and Wednesday’s event was no different.

I — as did many others, by all accounts — certainly came away from the event feeling positive about what transpired, but I also reflected on the underlying themes of the event.

Over and over again, we — the editors of Hoosier Times — spoke about our particular communities. We spoke about our passion for journalism and for the role we play as government watchdogs. We spoke about the uncertainties of what newspapers and media will look like in the future.

And we spoke about the fact that despite the changes and ever-evolving modes of communication, we are all united by the same, unwavering mission — to keep the public informed and to serve as documentarians of our communities.

Rest assured, nobody working for a newspaper is in it for the money. We are driven by a heart to serve our communities, to add to the community conversations, and to carry on the noble profession of journalism.

Wednesday’s forum was a refreshing reminder, at least for me, that we are not on an island. We are united with newspapers, not only within our group but around the country and the globe, pursuing truth motivated by the public good.

Our role is vital, and we are united in our collective mission.

We’re planning to have a similar forum here in Morgan County sometime in the near future, and I’d encourage you to keep your eyes peeled for when that time comes.

The Reporter-Times is not our newspaper — it’s the community’s. So the event will offer an opportunity for folks to match a face with a byline, to ask questions of staff and really get a peek behind the curtain of what we do.

It’s important to us, and I certainly hope it’s important to you as well.

Stephen Crane is the managing editor of the Reporter-Times and a native of Morgan County. Contact him at 765-342-1441 or at scrane@reporter-times.com.